Northern Chicken First Local Restaurant to Require Masks
With provincial and municipal leaders so far reluctant to introduce mandatory face coverings for indoor public spaces, businesses have taken it upon themselves to create and enforce mask requirements.
Back in May, T & T Supermarket required all customers entering their stores across Canada to wear masks. In Edmonton, the first restaurant to do so is Northern Chicken.
Co-owner and Chef Andrew Cowan tweeted,
“Starting Monday July 14th masks will be mandatory to enter @northchickenyeg NO EXCEPTIONS, even if you wish to done [sic] in we respectfully request to arrive and leave with a mask on.”
Masks will be required of all customers entering the premises, including those who are picking up food to go. They do have a window facing 124 Street that may be open in the evenings to allow customers to pick up take-out without entering the shop.
In COVID-19-related News
- Tokiwa Ramen has re-opened to offer assemble-at-home ramen kits.
- Food Bike Tours continue their transition to Local Chefs Kits continues into July, and feature chefs from Bodega and Why Not?! Kits are priced at $90 per couple.
- The Local Omnivore and Belgravia Hub have resumed dine-in service, and Red Star Pub has re-opened.
- Duchess has re-opened both locations for takeaway.
- Corso 32 is readying to re-open, but announced that their “Corso at Home” pandemic pivot of assembly-based pasta kits will be permanent.
Openings
- Breadland will likely relocate to their Garneau location (8440 109 Street) in September. To prepare, they will be closing their current location for two weeks in August.
- Bambu, a California-based Vietnamese coffee/dessert chain, opened its first Edmonton location in Old Strathcona, at 10347 82 Avenue.
- South Point Pizza offers “culturally inspired pizza” at 805 Tamarack Way.
- River Cree Casino has debuted a new restaurant on its premises, called Italia.
Closures
- The Billiard Club in Old Strathcona has permanently closed.
Upcoming Events
- Feast on Fourth is an initiative from businesses located on the 4th Street Promenade downtown. Every Thursday this summer, select businesses will be offering specials and discounts. Check the Facebook page for updated information.
- Also on 104 Street, Al Fresco on 4th will run on Saturdays from 11am-4pm from July 18-September 19, 2020 will close the street to vehicle traffic and feature a curated vendor market, sidewalk patios, and community programming. The Facebook page will be updated with more information.
Local News
- River City Revival House and Baijiu now have patios!
- Liane covered the story behind Eleanor & Laurent, and teased the second phase of the restaurant – a French bistro on the third floor of the building called La Petite Iza.
- From July 16 – 26, 2020, the Taste of Edmonton will be featuring the restaurants and food trucks that would have been a part of this year’s festival had it gone ahead.
- Linda partnered with family-based noodle business Nai Nai Mie to share the story behind their “homemade hugs in a bowl”.
- Also from Linda – she’s selected the 50 businesses (many of them hospitality-related) to feature in her #AdoptAShopYEG campaign, encouraging Edmontonians to spend at least $20 in the establishment from July 17-26, 2020.
- Honest Dumplings are now available at Sobeys.
- The newest episode of the Let’s Find Out podcast is the first part of a miniseries reflecting on Mirama, the former restaurant on 94 Street and Jasper Avenue.
- The Well Endowed Podcast’s current episode “does lunch” with its guests and discusses how Chinese communities in Edmonton continue to grow strong.
- Avenue Magazine is transitioning into a new entity Edify with the July issue being its final one under the Avenue banner. Edify will continue to cover the food scene; expect its first issue in October.
Urban Agriculture and Farming
- Riverbend Gardens is featured in a story about how the delay in receiving Seasonal Agricultural Workers has impacted their farm.
What I Ate
- We’ve been trying to make the most of this rainy summer and eat outdoors when possible. On Friday, this meant take-out from Grandin Fish ‘N’ Chips and a picnic at the nearby Ezio Farone Park. Super-efficient service (if we could walk faster, the order would have been ready in 10 minutes!), and both the fish and chips remained crispy when we were ready to eat it.
Emily loves a good picnic
- We also walked over to the 124 Grand Market on Sunday – it was great to be able to support both Steve & Dan’s and Riverbend Gardens, two of the vendors we’ve patronized for many years at the former City Market. We also managed to enjoy our order from Drift before the skies opened up again – it’s been too long since my last buttermilk chicken sandwich.
Buttermilk chicken sandwich from Drift
Only Here for the Food 